Travelling with an elite sporting team

Dr Anthony Hipsley (second from right) with the Australian U19 FIBA World Cup Basketball team

Insights from the U19 FIBA World Cup Basketball with Ballarat OSM Sports and Exercise Medicine Registrar, Dr. Anthony Hipsley

One day before we leave Melbourne to fly to Latvia and Greece. The boys have their final training session and are looking great. Unfortunately, it’s never that easy…

When I was asked to be the Team Doctor for the Men’s U19 Australian Basketball Team on their upcoming tour to Europe for the FIBA World Cup, I immediately became both excited and nervous. I knew it would be a big job but a fantastic experience.

The key to a successful tour with an elite sporting team is preparation. Conducting thorough, yet practical medical screens of my athletes was an important first step. This allowed me to understand the past and present medical histories, as well as mitigate the risk of future injuries. It also gave me the opportunity to build rapport and educate the athletes about health and safety. Ensuring up to date vaccinations, providing health information and preparing your medical kit are other pre-tour tasks which require careful planning.

So what happened 24 hours before we jetted off to Europe? One of our best players pulls himself out of training with an acute hip injury. Not ideal timing! Needless to say, the coach is fretting, as are we all. Thankfully, we are able to get him an MRI within a couple of hours to help with diagnosis and guide treatment. A lengthy discussion follows between myself, physio, head coach and athlete about the way in which this injury might affect his ability to play 7 games against the world’s best competition. Always expect the unexpected when it comes to injuries – lesson learned.

Besides managing injury in sometimes inopportune moments, another vital aspect of being a Team Doctor on tour is optimising performance. I collected “wellness” data from the athletes, which gave me helpful information about sleep, muscle soreness, hydration and fatigue. If there was a downward trend, I engaged the athlete to rectify the issue before performance was jeopardised.

We travelled to Latvia and Greece with 17 people – 10 athletes and 7 supporting staff. It goes without saying that a Team Doctor in a foreign, high stakes environment must exhibit strong communication, organisational and decision making skills. However, I have come to learn of more inconspicuous skills that make life easier. Firstly, humour. On day 1, the head coach asked me, “Doc, what’s your favourite movie”, to which I (truthfully) replied, “Easy. Dumb and Dumber”. All I can say is, our relationship grew steadily from there. “So you’re telling me there’s a chance?” was quoted relentlessly. I also have come to realise the importance of looking after yourself. I exercise every day at home, so I try and do the same on tour. I think of this approach as controlling the controllables, in this case, my own wellbeing.

Travelling as a Team Doctor with an elite sporting team is challenging, yet incredibly rewarding. I take with me many lessons learned and lifelong memories. Alas, we didn’t achieve our goal of winning a medal in the 2019 FIBA World Cup Basketball Tournament, however there is always next time. So you’re telling me there’s a chance!!!

 

Dr. Anthony Hipsley

Sports Medicine Registrar

Ballarat OSM

 

What’s stopping you?

What’s Stopping You?

Exercise is good for you. We all know that, it’s been a constant public health message for years, like smoking is bad for you, and you should ‘Slip, Slop, Slap’ in summer. Most people even get the message that you should exercise for 30 minutes a day. But how many of us actually do it?

Australia is one of the fattest countries on earth, and getting fatter. Childhood obesity rates are increasing, and ‘lifestyle’ diseases like Type 2 diabetes are wreaking havoc on the health of not only people, but the country’s health budget. Governments publish strategies every few years, but the trends keep getting worse. So, what do we have to do to change this?

Broad-brush statements like those above are easy to agree with, but hard to know what to do with as an individual. So, I have two questions directly for you:

  1. Are you happy with how much you move and how you feel? And if not,
  2. What’s stopping you?

If the answer to question 2 is an injury, then let’s do something about it. Sports medicine physicians are expert at finding ways to rehabilitate injuries as best as possible. Sometimes this involves rest, but not for too long. Often it involves stretching, strengthening or other exercises, which can be performed with input from a physiotherapist, exercise physiologist or osteopath. It may involve other treatments such as injections, which can often be performed in the rooms. Occasionally it will require surgery, in which case a sports physician will know which surgeon is the best one to perform the operation.

If the answer is illness, lack of fitness or other limitation, a sports physician will know how to tailor an exercise program around your limits. Sports Physicians are medical specialists, and understand how illness affects exercise, and vice versa.

Or if the answer is not enough time, too much to do, I’m too tired and I can’t fit it into my life, a sports physician may just have some ideas on how to make that little bit of activity part of your day.

Are you active enough?

So what’s stopping you?

 

Dr Greg Harris

Sport and Exercise Physician

Ballarat OSM